The Invisible Commons

Abstract

Microbiomes — the communities of bacteria, fungi, and viruses inhabiting soil, ocean, and the human gut — are the microbial foundation of all life, yet pesticides, antibiotics, and industrial chemicals are destabilizing them with no cross-domain governance. The paper defines the microbiome as a planetary commons and proposes a Global Microbiome Baseline Monitoring Network (GMBMN) and a Cross-Domain Microbiome Impact Assessment.